Japan stocks soar to four-year highs, lead Asia

SarahTurner

V.Phani Kumar

HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Japanese stocks soared Wednesday to end at their highest level in more than four years as the yen skidded amid hopes the country’s central bank may adopt aggressive easing measures following Gov. Masaaki Shirakawa’s planned early departure.

Most other regional markets ended with modest gains in the wake of upbeat economic data from the U.S. and Europe a day earlier.

Japan’s Nikkei Stock Average
NIK, +0.30%
jumped 3.8%, the most since March last year, to finish the day at 11,463.75, a level it hasn’t seen since September 2008.

The U.S. dollar
USDJPY, +0.00%
briefly topped 94 yen and the euro climbed as high as ¥127.69 — a high neither currency has seen since 2010. The yen’s fall against them came after Gov. Shirakawa late Tuesday said he would step down from his post on March 19, a few weeks ahead of the expiration of his term, to coincide with the departure of two deputy governors. Read more about yen’s drop versus the dollar and the euro.

Why Chinese banks are eager to lend again

(3:37)

China's banks have recently been exceeding their lending limits. May Yan of Barclays explains why this may be a sign of economic recovery in the country.

Analysts said the news likely means an accelerated and potentially more wide-ranging policy-easing plan will emerge from the Japanese central bank.

“The main take-away is that the timeline has shifted, and new policy steps are likely as early as the April 4 Bank of Japan meeting,” said BNP Paribas strategist Vassili Serebriakov.

“Candidates for the new governor will be presented in mid-February, and our Japanese economists point out that they all support additional easing by to a varying degree,” Serebriakov said.

“If the country gets inflation, then the banks are going to be in a good position to take advantage of that,” said Andrew Sullivan, director of sales trading at Kim Eng Securities, adding that the situation would likely benefit bank margins.

Intraday Data provided by SIX Financial Information and subject to terms of use.
Historical and current end-of-day data provided by SIX Financial Information. Intraday data
delayed per exchange requirements. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM) from Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
All quotes are in local exchange time. Real time last sale data provided by NASDAQ. More
information on NASDAQ traded symbols and their current financial status. Intraday
data delayed 15 minutes for Nasdaq, and 20 minutes for other exchanges. S&P/Dow Jones Indices (SM)
from Dow Jones & Company, Inc. SEHK intraday data is provided by SIX Financial Information and is
at least 60-minutes delayed. All quotes are in local exchange time.